Checking out election campaigning at Ulsoor Lake

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I hit the campaign trail this morning to see for myself what voters feel. Earlier this week, the idea popped in my head that I should step beyond the smug cocktail circuit to revisit the grassroots election campaign. I have not done this for over a decade, and I feel that I have to observe first hand these elections that have thrown up so many vexatious questions that no party is able to answer. I am also curious to see if campaigning has changed now – what with a new breed of candidates, and more questioning constituents.

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AAP volunteers at Ulsoor Lake

As a neutral observer, I intend to cover one candidate in each of Bangalore’s three parliamentary constituencies ( from Congress, BJP & AAP), though of course, I plan to vote with my conscience on V-Day.

AAP volunteers wait at the gate

Major Aditi, campaign manager for V.Balakrishnan, the Aam Aadmi Party’s hopeful from Bangalore Central, told me I could join them at Ulsoor Lake at 7 am.

Lo and behold, along with AAP topiwallahs, I found a host of Congress supporters gathered too. A woman swiftly thrust a pamphlet on me saying that Rizwan Arshad (the Congress candidate) was coming. There was a motley group scattered along the entrance, including a few more women who were heavily made-up (for that time of the morning). They didn’t seem too inclined to chat though.

AAP’s crew were standing at the gate leading to the walkway, and were greeting people politely and distributing pamphlets. They were eager to receive me as a supporter and when I explained that I was there just to observe, were more than willing to talk.

Demographics:Ulsoor Lake is in close proximity to Muslim and Tamil dominated areas, with a fair sprinkling of Marwari and other trading communities.

The first AAP volunteer that I spoke to was 33-year old techie who said that this was the first time he would be voting. As we chatted, Rizwan’s entourage arrived. As he entered the park, he stopped to greet and shake hands with me and also with the AAP volunteers.

These pleasant exchanges between the two parties continued through the morning. Within a few minutes of Rizwan setting off down the walking trail to meet and greet people, Bala arrived. While one of the volunteers suggested that he head in the opposite direction to avoid meeting up with the Congress team, Major Aditi would have none of it and charged off in the same direction.

As she walked, she ensured that each person she met had an AAP pamphlet, and Bala who was walking with a group of supporters, shook hands, patted shoulders or did a namaste as the case may be.

At one point, Bala’s group overtook Rizwan’s group, and Bala doubled back to introduce himself and shake hands with his rival. Handsome and fresh-faced, Rizwan smiled spontaneously and embracing Bala, wished him “all the best”. That seemed to cheer the AAP group which was muttering that the Congress had got wind of Bala’s visit and barged in to grab his moment with the voters.

People’s voices

“ I know you, I know your father, magar humhare party ke usul alag hain, beta”- said an old bearded gentleman to Infrastructure Minsiter Roshan Baig’s son Ruman, who was accompanying the Congress candidate.

“Everybody should vote for AAP”, said a delighted walker. Another said that he shared the same name – Balakrishnan but was not from Central constituency. AAP supporters encouraged him to vote for their candidate in any constituency.

I met an old acquaintance, who retired as a CEO of a company and now has a start-up. He was of the view that the country’s economic stability had to be given prime place; without a strong economy India could nothing. Though he didn’t say it explicitly, I got the feeling that he would vote for the BJP.

Bala embraces his Congress rival Rizwan.

As we walked, every now and then, one of the AAP team members would gently raise the subject of my convictions. One of them is a builder, and heads the builders association. He is also a Muslim. I told him that with his professional and religious background, it was a surprise not to see him in the Congress. He acknowledged it with a smile and said, “ I left them because I am fed-up. Every Corporator wants an apartment from a builder; each one in this area alone has 3 or 4 apartments. Every now and then, they demand lakhs of rupees. Just like that. We need a change.”

One of the AAP team asked me if I would join their party. I said that I was disillusioned after Kejriwal abandoned the opportunity to rule the Delhi government. He said, “ How could he have run a minority government with no support? Our principle agenda was Jan Lokpal, but when the Congress and BJP joined hands to stop it, there was no point in staying in power without being able to do anything. So he quit to try for another chance”. Kejriwal hadn’t explained this well and all that we had seen were a lot of theatrics, I said, and he conceded the point, admitting that perhaps he should have been clear about it.

Soon after, Bala stopped to greet a gentleman who asked him tough questions. “How can you compare your fight with the Freedom Struggle? Inquilab Zindabad has a different context, you can’t equate it with what you are doing.”

Bala said, “AAP is fighting against corruption. So we are striking to strike a chord with the same slogan”.

“Can’t you come up with something else?” asked his inquisitor, to which Bala replied, “If you can suggest something, we’d welcome it”. The group moved on.

I stayed back to talk to the gentleman, Ramaswamy. He said that he was among those who sat for three days in Freedom Park when the first anti-corruption movement started; he had gone to Delhi to support Kejriwal too. But he had been disillusioned. One of the AAP members had by then turned back to join us.

Like others had done whenever I had brought up the Delhi debacle, he too admitted that Delhi probably was handled wrongly. I asked Ramaswamy whether he thought AAP could learn from its mistakes and should be given another chance.

He is not a man to mince words. With words as direct as his piercing eyes, he said, “Kejriwal has not accepted that he made a mistake. Let him admit it and then ask for a second chance”.

My view: People who looked to AAP feel let down by Kejriwal’s antics; the candidate and his team avoid confrontation and try appealing to logic and ethics. They do not talk at high decibel. They talk about corruption. They are clean, decent and earnest. No thugs or strongmen lurk in the shadows. They promise a fair fight. Will voters vote with their conscience or back a winning horse?